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COMMUNIST PARTY OF CUBA FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE
A profoundly democratic process
• This is how Raúl Castro, First Secretary of the PCC Central Committee, described the debate which has been ongoing since the popular discussion of the 6th Party Congress policy guidelines and continued during the far-reaching and intense analysis of the 1st National Conference

"THE objectives approved here were discussed throughout the country in a profoundly democratic spirit," emphasized President Raúl Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee, during the closing session of the Party’s 1st National Conference, held January 28-29 at Havana’s International Convention Center.

The President of the Councils of State and Ministers highlighted the broad exchange of opinions which characterized the work in commissions during the first day of the event, while nevertheless emphasizing that the greatest challenge does not lie in reaching agreement, but in how agreements are implemented.

During a session conducted by the Party’s Second Secretary, José Ramón Machado Ventura, delegates unanimously approved resolutions presented by the four commissions and agreed to authorize the Central Committee, during its current term, to fill vacancies representing up to 20% of the number of members approved by the 6th Congress.

Commission #1 addressed the Party’s functioning, methods and style of work. Participants discussed the importance of focusing work by rank and file members on the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines; the strengthening of actions taken to confront social indiscipline, illegal acts, corruption and other negative behavior, while demanding that attention be paid to proposals made by citizens in any context.

Commission #2 was devoted to the Party’s political and ideological work and addressed, among other important issues, the strengthening of national unity around the Party and the Revolution, which requires promoting closer ties with the masses and strengthening one-on-one interaction, using creative means, as well as expanding the conscious participation of the people, as protagonists and agents of change, in the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines.

Commission #3 was charged with analyzing the Party’s cadre development policy and proposed that, in order to better reflect Cuban society, women, Blacks, mixed race persons and youth - on the basis of their merits and accomplishments - be progressively and purposefully promoted to leadership positions. The Commission also emphasized the need for gradual renovation in these positions and for a definition of term limits.

During pre-Conference discussions, more than 65,380 proposals were made to Chapter 4 of the Conference central document devoted to the Party’s relations with the Union of Young Communists (UJC) and other mass organizations, which led to the reformulation of 16 of the 17 resolutions originally proposed. This fact clearly illustrates the democratic, participatory nature of the process, but even more far-reaching was the discussion in Commission #4 addressing the strategic issue of the continuity of the Revolution, which is dependent precisely on the relationship between the Party and the UJC and other mass organizations. This was the focus of many of the delegates’ comments.

The 1st Party Conference approved a final resolution read by Political Bureau member Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, which summarized the fundamental ideas which will guide the Party’s work.

The document updated basic concepts which characterize the relationship between the Party and the UJC and other mass organizations and defined measures to be taken to eliminate the practice of assuming functions and making decisions which are the responsibility of state, government or other administrative bodies.

During the opening session of the Conference, Second Secretary José Ramón Machado Ventura advocated working with a greater sense of responsibility, always looking to the future, and reiterated the need to eliminate obsolete mindsets in order to strengthen the work of the Party.

"This is not a conjunctural task," he said, but should rather constitutes a permanent and essential part of our members’ activity, which guarantees the Party’s continuing ability to rise to the occasion, as demanded by the challenges of every historic period.

Machado Ventura stated that summarizing the opinions and criteria expressed by delegates during the discussions and making them the focus of work, and ensuring the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines, were the fundamental goals of the Conference.

He reiterated that much remains to be done and reported that the meeting was preceded by a thorough analysis of the central document under consideration, published in October 2011, and discussed by the rank and file membership of the Party and the Union of Young Communists.

The inaugural event was dedicated to the 159th anniversary of the birth of José Martí, Cuba’s national hero and recognized by Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro as the intellectual author of the assault on the Moncada Garrison of July 26, 1953.

The Conference was convened by the 6th PCC Congress, held in April of 2011.

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THE 1st National Conference of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) discussed and analyzed a proposed central document focused on perfecting the Party's work during the current period and over the coming years, as the guarantor, alongside the people, of the continuity and irreversibility of Cuba's socialism.

The document was thoroughly analyzed by the rank and file in a democratic process, characterized by broad participation in all of the local units and leadership bodies of the Union of Young Communists (UJC). Numerous proposals led to the modification of the majority of the original objectives and the inclusion of an additional five. As formulated definitively, the Conference believes that the objectives serve to accomplish the following:

* Consecrate the fundamentals which govern the life of the Party, especially the principals of democratic centralism and collective leadership, as guarantors of unity in action, always irrevocably linked with the masses.

* Project the updating of the Party's methods and styles of work, structures, cadre development policy and ideological work, as well as its relationship with the UJC and other mass organizations, in order to exercise its responsibility to supervise, drive and demand the fulfillment of agreements made at the 6th Congress, above all those relevant to the updating of Cuba's economic model.

* Summarize basic guidelines for ideological work to ensure the defense of our society's values and national unity around the Party and the Revolution, encouraging the people's active participation in decision-making and the strengthening of socialist democracy.

* Define the responsibility and the role of the Party in the implementation of its cadre development policy, reaffirming the need to achieve better results in the promotion of women, Blacks, persons of mixed race and youth to leadership positions, based on their personal qualifications, training, experience and accomplishments.

* Prioritize the work of the Party in preventing and confronting corruption, illegal acts and indiscipline and in opposing any indications of impunity.

* Demand the definitive elimination of backward thinking, prejudice and discriminatory behavior of all kinds and consistently abide by the mandates of the Cuban Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on race, skin color, gender, national origin, religious beliefs, or any other prejudicial attack on human dignity, and advocates education for all in the principles of equality among human beings.

* Update the basic concepts which should characterize relations between the Party and the UJC and other mass organizations. In particular, the objectives encourage the youth organization to assume, with greater rigor, its responsibility to educate younger generations.

* Identify the steps to be taken to eliminate Party methods and styles of work which supplant the functioning and decision-making of the state, the government and other administrative institutions. Establish that the Party will assume its responsibility to lead and supervise by confirming the fulfillment of 6th Congress agreements and those of superior bodies.

The Conference reaffirmed the responsibility of leadership bodies, local units of the Party and its members in the supervision and fulfillment of agreed upon objectives.

The 1st National Conference of the Communist Party of Cuba, resolves, once directives from the four commissions are evaluated, to:

- Approve the Party Work Objectives, with the modifications approved;

- Authorize the Central Committee to identify changes to be made in Party statutes to more accurately reflect the approved objectives;

- Charge the Political Bureau with the responsibility to follow Central Committee directives to approve and implement necessary modifications of Party structures and regulations.

- Charge the Political Bureau with the responsibility to implement the Party work objectives through actions by the Secretariat and Party structures at all levels.

- Given that the Conference did not add new members to the Central Committee, this body is authorized to fill vacancies, on this one occasion, representing up to 20% of the number of members approved by the 6th Congress, over the course of its current term.

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